NJ Voters Defeat Stem Cell Measure: Conservative, anti-abortion, Catholic coalition ad blitz

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: New York Times

By DAVID W. CHEN
Published: November 7, 2007

TRENTON, Nov. 6 — In a stunning defeat for Gov. Jon S. Corzine, New Jersey voters on Tuesday rejected a ballot measure that would have permitted the state to borrow $450 million for stem cell research. The sound defeat, coupled with the failure of another initiative that would have set aside more money for property tax rebates, marked the first time in 17 years that voters in New Jersey had defeated any statewide ballot question.

The ballot questions offered a rare surprise on a day in which Democrats maintained their control over both houses in the State Legislature. As of midnight, Democrats appeared poised to add one seat to their 22-18 majority in the Senate by winning seats in Atlantic City and Cape May Counties that had been in the hands of Republicans. In the Assembly, Republicans appeared to chip one or two seats from the Democrats’ current 50-30 majority.

But it was the defeat of the stem cell measure by a resounding 53-47 percent margin that dealt a sharp blow to Mr. Corzine, who had campaigned heavily for it and had contributed $150,000 to the effort.

Supporters had argued that the borrowing would help pay for research that could help deliver New Jersey from financial distress by bringing additional tax revenue and tens of thousands of jobs to the state. Critics, by contrast, said that New Jersey could not afford to add to the state’s surging debt load of $30 billion.

Though recent polls had indicated that the initiative would pass easily, a coalition of conservatives, anti-abortion activists and the Catholic church conducted a last-minute advertising blitz against it....

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/nyregion/07jersey.html?hp

[AX10]

1. Again, why I left the Catholic cult.

:argh:

[Bluebear]

2. Yay! onward to the 10th century!

[Ian David]

3. The Christian Neocon Death Cult Strike Again! n/t

[Ferretherder]

4. Could someone please tell me,...

...just 'cause I'm not sure from one day to the next,....

.....what country are we living in?

[tanyev]

6. The wealthiest and most powerful laughingstock in the world.

[TZ]

5. I think I heard that the campaign

agaisnt this bill was that it would raise taxes.....:eyes: Thats right.. ignore the potentially life saving science in favor of saving a few dollars here n there...:banghead:

[redqueen]

12. Self centeredness & greed are diseases and they are killing us. (nt)

[SquireJons]

7. This is not a social conservative win

It's a fiscal conservative win. Voters are worried about the economy and adding half a billion in debt didn't sit well with a lot of voters. The research is great, but the promised return on investment is a gamble. That's my gut feeling, anyways.

[customerserviceguy]

10. I agree

If the benefits of this research are going to be so very valuable, why are they having to raise money using the government's credit, rather than by private investment? When you see so very much money being poured into bullshit like Google stock (hey, everybody could decide to use another search engine tomorrow) it's surprising that Big Pharma doesn't want to take the risks.

[depakid]

8. Yet another lesson on how well propaganda works

in a consolidated, unregulated corporate media.

[brentspeak]

9. There's this misperception among out-of-staters that NJ is some kind of liberal oasis

It's much more conservative than many are aware. Heck, millions of NJ residents voted for Bush in both 2000 and 2004.

[Wolfetone]

11. New Jersey is facing a 3 billion dollar budget shortfall,

has continually underfunded the pension system to the tune of billions of dollars, and has a bonded debt of 30 billion dollars. We don't need to borrow more money to fund stem cell research, because all it will do will lower our already piss poor debt rating, which in turn increase our interest payments. We need to get our fiscal house in order so the state doesn't go bankrupt and that is why as a New Jersey resident I voted against this bill.

BTW I hardly think a 6 point margin of victory is resounding.